Church of St Martin

The Church of St Martin is a building of group value, dating back to around 1330, with significant alterations and additions across the 15th, 18th, and 19th centuries. The church is constructed of sandstone ashlar, coursed squared chalk rubble, and brick in English garden wall bond to the belfry, all with a slate roof. It comprises a 2-stage west tower, a 4-bay nave rebuilt in the 19th century, and a ruinous 2-bay chancel, originally longer.

The west tower features a double-chamfered plinth, buttresses with offsets and gablets, and pointed belfry openings with timber Y-tracery. The crenellated parapet is stepped with corner obelisks. A 2-light west window has a mullion, a ¼-round moulding to the reveals, and segmental heads under a dripmould, with blocked putlog holes above. The nave has a chamfered plinth and buttresses with offsets. A lancet window is positioned on the west side, and two 2-light windows with cusped Y-tracery on the east. A pointed south doorway has a continuous roll-moulding, and the gables are coped. The chancel’s west bay features a chamfered plinth and buttresses with offsets. A 3-light pointed window with high-quality Reticulated tracery and iron glazing bars (now reduced to one light) is present on the west side, decorated with a human head hood-mould stop. A pointed priest’s door is set in a deep segmental-headed embrasure to the right, with fragments of crenellations above. Two pointed windows with similar Reticulated tracery are placed on the north wall. The east window, dating to the 16th century, is of 4 lights with mullions and transoms.

Inside the church, the nave’s double-chamfered pointed chancel arch rests on moulded capitals with rosettes and stylised fig leaves. A fragment of a brass depicting a knight and part of an inscription (dated 1443) is set into the north wall; the matrix for this brass is located on the chancel floor. A 14th-century recumbent effigy of a couple is carved to resemble figures concealed beneath a tree, with shields at the roots and six child heads on each side. A memorial to John Newton, erected by his widow Jane, includes both old and new style dates (1739/40), verses written by him and his wife, and a memorial to their children dated 1735. A pre-Conquest cross-head with interlace ornament is also present. The chancel incorporates a re-set trefoil-headed piscina in the east wall, and contains a collection of inscribed and architectural fragments. The chancel is designated as an Ancient Monument.